Transcript of Premium Bonus 069- Transcript

Charlie:
Hello and welcome to the British English Podcast, the show all about teaching you British English whilst giving you a culture led conversation. I am your host, Charlie Baxter, and in today's episode we have a conversation with Daisy, who is part of the teaching team of this show's Academy for Online Language Learners. And the reason I have invited her on today is because she has recently come back from a three month work trip to Marrakesh. So we're going to be exploring all things Moroccan and giving you the insight a British person has from having lived there for a few months. We cover Daisy's initial impressions, her top tips on travelling there for your first time, Moroccan food, architecture, personal values and we even discuss religion and how it can shape society. Obviously just our opinions, but I enjoyed recording this conversation with Daisy. I love how clearly she speaks and we could say she is a true role model when it comes to enunciation. So without further ado, let's get into this conversation with Daisy. Hello, Daisy. How are you doing?

Charlie:
Hello Daisy, how're you doing?

Daisy:
I'm great, thank you. How are you today?

Charlie:
I'm very good, very good. Yes. Um. I've just...I've just done 15 minutes of piano practice because I had a piano for my birthday, and I yeah, I've been doing 15 minutes in the morning, in the evening, and I'm actually getting quite good. It's incredible. There's an app called Flowkey that just it's just revolutionised the learning of of piano. But, uh. Yes. How how about you? How's your morning been? Have you been playing any piano at all?

Daisy:
Wow. No. That's fantastic. What a great habit to start the day. I would love to to start my day with some piano. That would be great, but no. Um. I have had a simpler morning routine. I've got my coffee. Um, it was actually my birthday at the weekend on Sunday, and I have a.

Charlie:
Happy belated birthday.

Daisy:
Thank you very much. Um, I have a kind of obscene amount of chocolate cake left over. So at the moment, every morning consists of chocolate cake for breakfast with my morning coffee. So I've had a nice slice of, this is a great bit of British culture, I've had a nice slice of Colin the Caterpillar.

Charlie:
Oh, yes, Colin the caterpillar. One of the weddings I went to recently, they had a Colin the Caterpillar. Mr. and Mrs.. I think, or maybe it was just a Colin the caterpillar and they just used that as the wedding cake which is a bit, um, like going off script, isn't it, to have that as your wedding cake?

Daisy:
Yeah, but at the same time, very British, I admire that. I would love a Colin (true) at my wedding. Colin and Connie, maybe.

Charlie:
Um. But, Daisy, you've been on the podcast before. Thank you very much for coming back again. If people hadn't heard that episode by now or haven't heard that episode by now, could you tell the listeners who you are and your professional background as well?

Daisy:
Yes, sure. So I have, um, a background or a career that's almost split in two parts. One part is that I teach languages and I teach English as a foreign language, which is how I came to know Charlie. So I've been teaching on the podcast or for the podcast for a couple of years now, which is maybe how some of you will know me or recognise me. And then the other part of my life or my career is that I am a dancer, a professional dancer, and that is what the previous episode was when I came on and we had a chat about life as a dancer.

Charlie:
Exactly, yes, very well put. And the reason that we're here today is, again, because of your dancing, because that has led you to an adventure abroad. Where did you go for the last. Well, you've been back a month. So where did you go during the colder months of the year?

Daisy:
Yes. I was very lucky to escape the the worst winter months of the UK of London. So I was away from January, mid-January until mid-April and I was living in Marrakesh in Morocco.

Charlie:
Very cool, very cool. Yeah, I was invited to go to Marrakesh recently and sadly I couldn't go, but I was. I was excited and I enviously watched their holiday on Instagram. Um, it looked really nice. What did you what were your initial thoughts first impressions when arriving in Morocco?

Daisy:
Um, it's an interesting one because I think I was, um, I had a lot of preconceptions before going, and that wasn't necessarily from me, but from people around me. People have preconceived ideas of what Morocco will be like, particularly people here in the UK, the people around me. So every time I said, oh, I've got this, this job, I'm going to go out and live in Marrakesh for three months. Instead of people saying, well, hey, congratulations. Lots of the responses, particularly from the people closest to me, were of concern. So (Oh, okay) will you be safe?

Charlie:
Will you be safe. And can you expand on that? Why do British people have this stereotype of concern about going to a place like this?

Daisy:
Yeah, I can't say exactly where it comes from. I think it's partly from the unknown. So if people haven't been, then they make a judgement of what they think it's like partly, maybe from media, partly, maybe from just it being such a different culture. And of course it is a very different culture, a very different place. But yeah, lots of people saying Morocco is dangerous, Marrakesh is dangerous and often from people who've never visited. So I was hoping in the lead up to my trip that I could prove them wrong, that I would feel safe, that I could come back with positive stories. And that is what has happened. Thankfully, I felt a lot of..

Charlie:
And that is what happened. Yeah,

Daisy:
Yeah, a lot of us said at points that we actually felt safer in some ways in Marrakesh than in London, for example, because it's such a hard to describe but like a warm community, a very kind community, very open. And I think it just gives a really nice feeling to live there. The atmosphere is a really good vibe.

Charlie:
Okay. Yeah. That's that's the that's the information I wanted to hear. So yeah. London I mean I saw a real yesterday saying that, uh, mobile phones are taken every six seconds, one mobile phone every six seconds in London there's like this new surge of these guys are all in black. I assume it's guys, let's let's assume that's the genderless guys. They're all in black, and they go on these electric, um, mountain bikes and they kind of circle or just, like, hover behind young people with their phones out, snatch them, and then just off they whizz on these electric bikes and there's no hope of catching up with that. So yeah, they're just getting away with it very easily. So yeah, I'd, I'd say you've got to be aware of your surroundings in London, but you felt like you didn't necessarily need that extra awareness, heightened awareness in Marrakesh.

Daisy:
No, definitely. You need to be aware and you need to be aware of your surroundings. And I think one of the important things going to Morocco or into the centre of Marrakesh and the old town and the markets, for example, the difference between feeling safe and comfortable and confident and having a bad experience will be your your mindset and your awareness. And if you're prepared for the... it is a chaotic place, right? There's people everywhere, people shouting, very different culture, very overwhelming. It can be if you're not prepared. But if you are prepared and you're aware of your surroundings and you're aware of what to do, what not to do. Then I think you have a wonderful experience. So I think these things like we're talking about phones being snatched, I think that probably happens in a lot of places around the world. It happens in London, I think probably happens in Marrakesh, particularly in the souks, in the markets. Um, but yeah, I don't know what I'm referring to in terms of safety, more of a feeling, more of a feeling that if you're if you're in need of help, someone will help you, I guess. Yeah.

Charlie:
Right. Okay. And that and that is something that you can only really establish after being somewhere or just, um, have an opinion on after being there, like, you can, you can read reviews and see statistics. But yeah, that feeling is the is the thing that I wanted to find out about. Okay. Um, so what about Moroccan hospitality, would you say? Um, like, did you have much interaction with locals considering you were a dancer in Marrakesh? You probably had quite a few expats around you throughout the experience. Did you get much contact with locals?

Daisy:
Yeah, I mean, I wasn't living with a local, I wasn't living with a family or anything like that. We lived just within our team of mostly British dancers. But the interactions in the community, interactions with people in the streets, in the shops, in the markets, in the cafes, also at work, a lot of the staff in Buddha-bar, where I was dancing, the staff who weren't the performers were all Moroccan. And so, yeah, surrounded by locals, not necessarily, um, living with them or best friends who were locals, but yeah, good interactions.

Charlie:
Okay, enough to figure out whether there's a bit of a difference or similarity towards like hospitality in general,

Daisy:
I think, yeah, just just very, um, very hospitable, very open, very warm population, very kind. You have a real feeling of kindness. And I think, like you say, this only comes from really giving it the time to stay there for an amount of time and to have an open mind. So I think it's very much a place where initially, particularly if you're... depends on your personality, depends on your mindset. But initially everything seems chaotic. Initially everyone is shouting everyone. So a big part of the Moroccan culture as well is this, um, they're all very business minded, so they're all bargaining, they're all trying to get the best deal. They're all trying to entice you into their shop and pay them money, and they're very business minded. But if you actually take the time to get through that and you have conversations with these shopkeepers and you, you yourself are less direct in saying, I'll give you this amount of money for this product, and you actually ask them about their life and you have a nice chat. And it helps if you speak French, for example, because then you can (Oh really? Okay). Yeah. So French is the second language after Moroccan Arabic. So it helps if you say a few words in Moroccan Arabic. And then you can switch to French and you can communicate and have a nice chat. And below the, beneath the bravado of of the bargaining and haggling and aggressiveness and shouting, everyone is so sweet and everyone suddenly calms down and smiles and is very kind, very warm and very welcoming, very welcoming to tourists, to foreigners, always wanting to help, always wanting to to give you advice or show you the way or share things with you. Invite you to do things. Um, yeah.

Charlie:
Beautiful. Yeah. So, um, you mentioned that they have this sort of aggressive outer shell, and then once you get in, I mean, talking about the bartering and stuff, but once you get beneath that, they're quite, um, sweet and kind. And did this show up in, in the daily interactions that you had? I'm assuming that's the case. Yeah.

Daisy:
Yeah. Like, for example, um, we lived in a house in a complex in a kind of gated residence with security, but lots of people within that complex, both tourists, locals families, Moroccan families, and and within the complex we had some cafes, we had some shops, a pharmacy, like a little village in itself. And I would go to the local shop to get simple things, bread, juice, local things for everyday life. And Marrakesh is very much a city where you've got the rich parts and the poor parts, and there's a big wide difference between the two. So buddha-bar would be with people pulling up outside in Ferraris, Bentleys really elevated prices on the menu, glamorous people, fantastic food. And then you've got the the markets or the old town where you've got beggars on the streets. You've got you really see the poverty around you, and in the more local parts of town, the prices, of course, are very different, much lower. So at my local shop, for example, a loaf of bread would cost, I think, three dirham, which is maybe like a couple of pennies.

Charlie:
Wow. A couple of pennies for a loaf of bread? (Yeah, I mean) in London, a loaf of sourdough bread can be upwards of £8.

Daisy:
Yeah. Exactly. So we're talking crazy prices, very affordable prices, particularly for bread. And I would go to this little shop.

Charlie:
I would say that. Sorry to interrupt, but I would say the crazy thing is the fact that a loaf of bread in London is £8. It's a sourdough, but still. Come on. Do you like sourdough? Are you a sourdough consumer?

Daisy:
I am, I do, yeah. And I was concerned as I started to get used to this life in Marrakesh, I did start to adapt to it. And I started to think, when I go home to London, this is going to be a big shock, to go to the bakery and to be told the price of the bread.

Daisy:
It's going to be quite shocking. Um.

Charlie:
Do they have different types of breads there? Like, do they rave about sourdough as we do nowadays?

Daisy:
In general, with the food I found? There's less choice. So a lot of things, you find the same things everywhere. And I mean, I'm sure we'll we'll go on and talk about food in a moment. But yeah, the breads you would get the traditional bread mostly everywhere you go, maybe a few variations. But the traditional bread was a round, quite flat, simple roll that actually all Moroccan bread is quite sweet, from my experience. It has a distinct, sweeter taste than our bread and which some people loved. I wasn't a huge fan of that sweetness, but it was nice enough bread.

Charlie:
Yeah. Mhm. Interesting not to have as much choice. Yeah. Did you miss that? Having loads of choice.

Daisy:
Definitely. And yeah it means it meant that at the beginning you would say oh, this is fantastic. I love Moroccan food, but by the end you would have eaten the same things again and again and you would say, no, I'm fed up with these dishes. I can't stand one more tagine. But just to go back to to the story in the local shop, if that's okay. And so I would visit this shop quite regularly, and I knew the young boy who was serving in there, who must have only been 14 or 15 years old, I think, helping out his family in the shop. (Yeah) and, um, there was one day I went in, I picked up a few different things. And I don't know if you know that feeling when you're you're abroad and you're. I think it was near the beginning. You're not quite used to the currency. So you're kind of trying to add up in your head what that costs and what notes you've got. And it's almost like playing with monopoly money, that it feels like fake money, and you're trying to count it and you don't really know what you've got or what you're paying. So I was counting up and I got to the till, and I must have done calculations wrong because I had a 200 note, or I had a 20 note. And then he put the things through the till, and the stuff I had picked up came to 23 dirham, Moroccan dirham. So I couldn't pay with the 20 because it was 23. So I tried paying with the 200, but he could see my 20 in my hand and he said oh no, no no no no, just give me the 20 and inshallah, inshallah (Oh that's nice).

Daisy:
I'm like, ah, inshallah. What does this mean. He's like telling me, no, no, you can owe me. You can pay me back. It's no problem. And...

Charlie:
Oh okay. Oh I thought sorry, I thought that meant, "oh, don't worry about it". But instead it was: "You owe me".

Daisy:
Well maybe, I don't know. I don't know specifically if he meant don't pay the three dirham or pay the three dirham later. Yeah, yeah. But either way, he meant just give the 20. It's fine. Allah. God wills it to be all of that.

Charlie:
Oh that's lovely.

Daisy:
And being a girl from London, I'm like, no, this can't be. I can't owe someone money. That's terrible. I need to pay you back. I'm going to go straight home and and get you the money. So I think the next morning or whenever I came back with the three dirhams. And he did kind of laugh at the three dirhams. So I think maybe he meant it's fine, don't worry about it. But, um. (Right) yeah. Being growing up, how I've grown up, I felt like I couldn't. Oh, this person three dirham.

Charlie:
Yeah. That is interesting, isn't it? Yeah, I think that is within our culture. We don't like to not pay the exact amount. And I guess maybe if the culture in Morocco is so sort of haglley or you can barter. If a shopkeeper doesn't get the exact price, maybe they're more comfortable with that because of their surroundings, whereas we've grown up with a set price and that's what you have to pay. Otherwise you don't get it. If you're 5P short, you walk out empty handed kind of thing.

Daisy:
Yeah, yeah. Because that's what I, in the situation I did, I was like, oh, I'll put back this item. And he was like, no, no, take it, take it. So yeah. Yeah. Just the different.

Daisy:
Yeah I guess that's yeah, that's probably sort of, you know, big chains taking the, the independence away from the actual shopkeeper. Like they can't keep stock and it gets all confusing for them on an individual level in the UK, I mean. Um, but yeah, that is nice that he trusted you at least or gave you that. Um, so he didn't want to give. He didn't want to use the huge note. The 200. Would that have wiped out his cash like his supply of change.

Daisy:
Yeah. So this was one of the problems we faced constantly throughout the weeks there that, um, everything, not everything, but a lot of Marrakesh runs on cash. So unless you're in the big Carrefour supermarket or you're in Buddha-bar or you're in somewhere very modern, in the modern part of town, everything is cash and you constantly need cash, but most places will not want you to pay in big cash like a 200 note. But in order to get cash, you take cash out of the wall, out of the ATM and it gives you lots of 200 notes. So you have to pay someone with a 200 note to get change. And often it's very difficult and you get lots of grumbles like are 200 notes, do you not have change? And we would say, but someone has to give us change.

Charlie:
Yeah. So does this mean that locals are more like circling the smaller notes between one another, and they're not necessarily using banks in the way that tourists use them? Mhm.

Daisy:
Maybe. I wonder. Yeah. Maybe. And maybe because most things won't cost 200 like 200 to us, 200 in in pounds would be like £16. So it's not a huge amount of money to a British person, but 200 Moroccan dirham is because everything is cheaper out there and not many things you would be buying in your everyday life would cost 200 dirham, so you wouldn't need that kind of big cash. To a Moroccan person, it's like, oh, that's a really big note. It's like, I guess in England trying to pay with a 50 or 100 note. It's just awkward.

Charlie:
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Mhm. Tricky. Yeah. And that, that's something that I imagine where you kind of indicated that this is the case, that that was such a regular thing. It must have come become quite a frustrating experience to encounter on a regular basis like more than just once a day. Yeah.

Daisy:
Yeah. It would be one of my main I mean, I think I didn't have many worries in this three months. I think I was living a very nice life. But just for context, it would be one of my main worries of the day. How am I going to get 200 notes instead of a 200? But then after living there, you do find your ways like you know the places to go. You would go in Carrefour to change the change, or you would go to the money exchange places in the old town to change the change. Some places won't have a problem if they're a bigger establishment.

Charlie:
Yeah, I'm glad you managed to find a way. Very resourceful of you. Um, so aside from money being frustrating. Were there any other day to day routines that were kind of challenging or refreshingly nice? Actually, I wanted to jump back to the choice thing there. So I asked you, was it nice or not nice to have choice? And I think we've gotten to a point where there's too much choice, too much opportunity to feel like you made the wrong choice. So that was why I was thinking, maybe it's quite refreshing to have a simplified version of, you know, when you go into a coffee shop now, it's like, what beans do you want? What milk do you want? I just give them how do you want it like served kind of thing with coffee? Actually, I really like that. But with most things I get overwhelmed and like they ask you, oh, do you want seeds on your loaf? Just give me a bit of bread. Come on. So that was that was my reference point, but, um. Yeah.

Daisy:
Interesting. Yeah. Um.

Charlie:
Do you do you feel like you like a lot of choice in in all walks?

Daisy:
Difficult question. I think I can see both sides coming from me as a person. My personality. I'm very indecisive. So in some ways, yes. Could get overwhelmed by too much choice and then could spend too long trying to decide. And or if you're in a if you're in a big queue at a coffee shop and they ask you difficult questions like what beans do you want roasted? And you have no idea what beans you want roasted. Yeah, it's it's maybe better to have less choice in some ways, but then in other ways. And having lived this in Marrakesh, I think even though it can be overwhelming with too much choice, I think the choice is better than no choice or less choice. (Okay, okay, okay).

Daisy:
Maybe. Maybe for a short period. It's nice, but to live your whole life in that environment. Yeah, I would rather have more choice and.

Charlie:
It invites innovation and change. Yeah.

Daisy:
Yeah. Yeah. So, for example, the the traditional foods over there were tajine or couscous. And so a lot of.

Charlie:
Just those two?

Daisy:
Of course there are other foods, there are other dishes. And it depends where you're eating. And there are actually some I found some really gorgeous cafes in the centre that were doing very different things, a bit like here in London, you get all different styles of place and they would do really exciting dishes. But the basic traditional places like a local restaurant, or if you went on a day trip and they took you to a restaurant that would prepare that menu for the day trip. It would without fail be: "do you want chicken tagine, vegetable tajine, chicken couscous or vegetable couscous?"

Daisy:
That was...(Okay) the menu for many places. (Yeah). So once you've tried the couscous, you've tried the tajine. You've eaten it on every outing you've been on. Yeah. It starts to wear off a little bit because they're also.

Charlie:
Fair enough. I mean, those those are two nice dishes, though. I like a tajine. I love couscous, especially pearl couscous. Was it that?

Daisy:
Again I think the this was a funny thing as well. So I had one friend come to visit me from London, and she was saying the whole time before coming out to Morocco, I'm so excited for the Moroccan couscous. I love couscous, I get the couscous in the meal. Deal. I don't know if it's Sainsbury's or Tesco's, but there's some Moroccan couscous and she loves it. And she was really excited to try the real Moroccan couscous. And after having spent a few weeks out there or a couple of months, I was saying I think in fact, I know couscous is the traditional thing here, but I think in fact, the Sainsbury's Moroccan couscous is much more flavoursome than the original Moroccan couscous. This is quite a plain dish, so these dishes depending again on where you have them. And I did have one really good tagine for example. I had one really good couscous depending on who's cooking and what restaurant. But a lot of them the couscous is very simple, very plain,

Charlie:
Very simple. Yeah. Which to some palates is probably delicious. But to a Sainsbury's goer that likes lots of choice in life. Maybe it lacks a little bit of flavour. Yeah, that's that's fair enough. I missed the opportunity to say so. Nice. They named it twice. Damn it! I just thought of that. I like I like that one with that joke.

Charlie:
We have come to the end of part one, so feel free to take a break from your listening practice. But if you're happy to keep going, then we're now moving on to part two of this episode. Thanks so much for being a premium or Academy member and enjoy the rest of the show.

Charlie:
Um, so what about the pace of life in Morocco compared to the UK?

Daisy:
Hmm, I was thinking about this, um, and I think it's a hard one to answer because in some ways it's like many. I find that in warmer countries people tend to know how to enjoy life better. Like, we would talk about Spain, Italy and the life in the streets because the weather is better. People spend more time outside. People spend more time socialising, talking and enjoying life more. And I think in colder countries we're more house based, more confined, less social, more closed. And it's all connected, right? So in some ways Morocco is a warm place, hot in the summer and yeah, probably more open and social. But in terms of work, everyone in Marrakesh is always industrious, Always doing something. Always busy. So I think one of the main things you learn about the population is they're very, very hard working. And you would walk through the streets and everyone, even the children, are busy. They're never just sat doing nothing. They're doing something there. It's a very, um, creative population as well. So you see, um, you see the artists, you see the craftsmen, you see the, the mechanics with the bikes, you see the, the people looking after their animals, the donkeys, the horses. You see people cooking in the street, people doing metal work or carpenters carving wood. You see all manner of creative and industrious activity as you walk through a small street in the Medina. So, yeah, I think, um, maybe I don't know how to compare it. It's just different to the UK, but a population that both knows how to enjoy life, but also how to work hard.

Daisy:
Okay, okay, I was going to ask, do you think they know how to enjoy life as well if they're so focused on work? Do they have time to relax?

Daisy:
I don't know, I feel like I should have gone and spoken to more of these locals now.

Daisy:
But can I, can I have that for £0.05 less? And do you have time to relax? Yeah.

Charlie:
Can we have a little a little chat about how you feel?

Charlie:
I'm going to go on a podcast. Yeah. Okay. So unknown. Unknown.

Daisy:
But maybe because I like to I could be completely wrong here. And this could be not how they feel at all. But I like to imagine that because there are lots of creative activities that maybe people enjoy their work more, and the reason that they put in more time is because they really do love what they do. And therefore, whereas maybe people in London, some people hate their job and they're enjoying life outside the job, so they're maybe trying to work less. But if you like what you do, and actually I think now maybe I do have an answer from speaking to people every time you you ask anyone in Marrakesh, "how are you?" Best in Moroccan Arabic? They'll go "hum de la hum de la la". And the the meaning is, um, is like all praise is due to God. And it's like, um, basically they all respond no matter how their day is going, they'll all respond. How can I complain? Like the sun is shining. I'm alive, I'm here. Life is good. And everyone will say things like life is good, how can I complain? Like there's a real sense of the religion out there and the religion surrounding you. I mean, the call to prayer happens five times a day. People are going to the mosque five times a day, but it's also a place. You've got the Jewish area, you've got the Muslim area, I think even some Christianity somewhere, and it's all the sense of the religion is just very, very different to how we view religion here. It's very warm, it's very open, and it's very based on everyone wanting to do good, everyone wanting to be a good person, to help your neighbour and everyone wanting to appreciate life. So whatever you have in life and however your day is going, just be grateful you're alive and life is good. That was that.

Charlie:
That's wonderful to hear. Yeah, that's that's lovely. I think, um, speaking for myself and friends and family around me in the UK, the general assumption of religion, those who aren't religious is because they've got this sort of education of, um, science is the new way to think. And we are very efficient with everything around research and peer to peer reviews and stuff like that. So they're opposing religion. And really what they're opposing in, in my opinion, is going to church and doing what they think is quote unquote boring. But we've really removed ourselves from the everyday morals that people live by in a religious This country. What you've just described, and I see our nation as being a little bit dissatisfied with life, even though we've got so much richness around us. We've got so much such a good quality of life, yet we still have this mindset of dissatisfaction and complaining and having this kind of spoilt attitude like we assume so much and we're not grateful. Like what you were just describing. Yeah. Um, so yeah, that's that's really nice to hear that that part of their culture is still intact with that. And it's part to do with religion. Mhm. Nice to experience that I guess as well.

Daisy:
Yeah I think it's the thing that struck me the most about the whole experience, the real feeling you get from it because we have like you say, we have one general view of religion, particularly if you're not very religious. I think religion is not something we view in that same way. It's more we think of the organised religion, we think of the problems maybe religion causes or the the facts of does it match with science? Does it not match with science, but to take it back and for it to be about the the goodness of the world and the morals and the ethics and and the real deep desire to do good. It was it had a strong impression and it made me reflect a lot on things. And yet everyone being so full of gratitude for life, it's just you feel it and it's really beautiful.

Charlie:
Mhm. Yeah. Because I think we focus on um trying to find a, a purpose through a passionate job. Like we want to try and find a job that we're really passionate about and that will make us feel content with life. But maybe I'm getting the wrong end of the stick. You can correct me if I'm if I'm wrong, but, um, they are seeing it as in, um, their religion feeds that purpose. And so whatever they're doing, they are passionate about life.

Daisy:
Yeah. I mean, I wasn't yeah, like you say, I wasn't that deep in the community. I wasn't living with a family or anything, but I never saw any kind of complaining. I never saw any kind of negativity. Everyone's everyone seems happy, and everyone seems, um, like you could say to a taxi driver again, you could say, oh, um, And has it been a busy day? Have you been working a lot? And I'm like, oh, it's fine, life is good. Like, no one really answers the question, particularly because they just say, life is good. And you think, well, yeah, life is good. You're right. How can you argue with that? Life is good no matter what the question is.

Charlie:
Yeah. Have you noticed or did you notice them asking each other? How are you? Do you think they asked that?

Daisy:
Yeah. But, um, I guess I wasn't particularly in those conversations.

Charlie:
Yeah. Just wondering. Maybe it's a weird thing to ask in their culture. Like, how are you? I'm always fine. Like, why would you ask? It's kind of like we're obsessed with remarking on the nice weather. If it's always nice, it wouldn't be worth commenting on.

Daisy:
But yeah, maybe. Maybe. Yeah.

Charlie:
Anyway, um, were there any other things that you wanted to talk about with food and the dishes in Morocco that you experienced, or would you like to move on to your actual dancing and things around that?

Daisy:
I will say, I think I haven't painted Moroccan cuisine in the best light with the, um, with the tajines and the couscous. But I will say about my favourite food in Morocco that actually I became very passionate and excited about. And I'm hoping to to learn how to make them here. I haven't actually tried out the recipe yet, but, um, the best part of Moroccan cuisine, in my opinion, is the M'smen. So one.

Charlie:
One more time?

Daisy:
Which I think the word is one of the best parts of this. This. I don't know if you could call it a dish, a product more M'Smen. So an M'Smen is like a mix between a flatbread and a pancake and.

Charlie:
A flatbread and a pancake. Okay.

Daisy:
Very layered. So you would it would be a nice combination between crispy and soft. And as you bite into it, you really notice all the thin layers of pastry or dough. I don't know what we would call it. And and it would commonly be eaten for breakfast with honey or with jam. Also, the honey in Morocco is fantastic. I'm not really a honey eater, but I really enjoyed all the honey out there and with a nice Moroccan fresh mint tea.

Charlie:
Why don't you like honey, Daisy? Why don't you like honey?

Daisy:
I don't, I'm not, like, really against honey. I don't dislike honey, But I've never particularly liked honey. But I did in Morocco.

Charlie:
I don't know. I don't know how anyone can not like honey. I feel like honey is the essence of what we crave. Like the sweet, sugariness. It's like Winnie the Pooh. Did you just look at him and be like, what are you going on about? Why do you like that jar so much?

Daisy:
Well, yeah. Winnie the Pooh loves honey and Paddington loves marmalade. And the whole time for both of them, I was thinking: bad choices. I don't like honey or marmalade. These crazy bears.

Charlie:
What's...what's your what's your Kryptonite? I'm not saying that I crave, honey, but I'll always enjoy a bit of honey. It's like saying I don't like chocolate. Like. Yeah. What do you. What do you crave? Chocolate. Right?

Daisy:
Sometimes (In the form of a caterpillar?). Well. Colin. Yeah. But, um. Even chocolate's not something that I really think about all the time. I think I don't have a huge sweet tooth.

Charlie:
Do you think you could ever date a Colin?

Daisy:
Colin. Like a chocolate Colin. Or a real human?

Charlie:
No, a real a real a real Colin.

Daisy:
I think I couldn't, I mean, yeah, if if he was, if he was a lovely guy, I wouldn't turn him down because he was called Colin. But I think I would spend a lot of time laughing at it and find it hard to take him seriously.

Charlie:
The first date, you're just laughing at him the whole time. I just see a Colin the caterpillar on your face. Yeah. Okay. Good to know that you're not opposed to dating any Collins. Um, so hang on. So you said you you wanted to say how there are nice things about Moroccan cuisine. Um, so. Yes, that that one that I can't pronounce. mm. Something. What is it? (M'smen?) M'smen. Um. Anything else?

Daisy:
Moroccan mint tea. Fresh mint tea.

Charlie:
Fresh mint tea. Okay. And the honey. Yes, but you didn't. You don't love honey, which is questionable.

Daisy:
That's what I was going to say in terms of breakfast. Condiments. Honey, marmalade. Um, I'm more of a peanut butter or marmite girl. And I know in in my podcast classes recently, the topic of Marmite keeps coming up. So yeah, definitely recommend trying the Marmite.

Charlie:
Yeah, I can't imagine they've got anything close to Marmite, have they?

Daisy:
No, not that I quite not that I tried, not that I found.

Charlie:
No, I mean, it's an extract from brewing beer. It's a waste product isn't it. So. And they're a dry country, aren't they?

Daisy:
Yeah. So, um, most people don't drink. I think you you can find alcohol in the country. And a lot of the, the modern parts of town, the big bars, they do have drinks on the menu. Um, but yeah, in general, the local population, many of them don't drink.

Charlie:
Yeah. Yeah. So they wouldn't necessarily have the urge to scoop up the waste product of something that they don't make. Um, okay, let's, uh, let's go to the reason that you were in Morocco. Your dancing. Um, can you paint a picture of like, you know, what kind of dance were you participating in? What was the venue? Um, and in comparison to your dancing in the UK, how does it differ?

Daisy:
Yeah. So, um, it was a three month contract at Buddha Bar. That is quite a famous venue in Marrakesh. There are Buddha bars. It's a chain. So there are Buddha bars all around the world in different places in London, in Dubai, in Italy, I think. But it's a chain where very much every Buddha bar is quite different. So the Buddha Bar's in London, for example, are just restaurants I've heard I haven't visited, but I've heard. And the Buddha Bar in Marrakesh is one of the the venues most famous for kind of big dinner shows, big performances. And so the show, it would be like a restaurant and a bar and a show at the same time. So people could come, could eat a lovely three course meal, have some cocktails and watch the entertainment at the same time. And the show would be a kind of variety performance, different groups coming on and off stage every, let's say, ten minutes for three hours between nine and midnight. And then at midnight, the resident band comes on and they play again for about an hour. Fantastic band, actually, the resident band at Buddha Bar. We enjoyed many a night watching them perform. Nice. And the different acts would be anything from near the beginning. Like a saxophone artist, a solo artist. There would be flamenco dancers, there would be Afro dancers and commercial dancers. An aerial hoop artist. Latin and ballroom duo. We did at one point have a roller skating duo, which was quite exciting. And then we were the Bollywood team, so.

Charlie:
Ah, okay. (perhaps...) Have you...have you done Bollywood? No. Uh. Is that. That's not belly. What's it called? I sound such an ignorant person right now. Belly dancing. Bollywood? No, Bollywood. Oh, yeah. Of course. Yeah, I know Bollywood. Yeah. Nothing to do with belly dancing. Yes. Indian? Yeah. And are you good at Indian dancing or belly Bollywood dancing?

Daisy:
Bollywood dance? Indian dance? Yeah. So, um, perhaps I spoke about it in the previous episode. I'm not really sure, but for the past few years, I've really got into Bollywood dance, and it's one of the main styles I've been performing in, practising in. And so this was with a group, a company and a choreographer who I've worked with in the past. And then he said, do you want to come out to Marrakesh? And I thought for three months, so often there's this debate. I think, again, we spoke in the other episode about the debate of do you want to work abroad or do you want to stay in London? How long are you willing to go abroad for? And I thought three months was a perfect amount of time. Not too long, not too short. A really nice chunk of time to have a very different experience, a big adventure. And, um, yeah, I think I was doing it partly for the for the dance and partly for the cultural experience of living in Marrakesh for three months.

Charlie:
Mhm. Yeah, it's a perfect combination. Um, especially during the cold months of the year here. January. February. March. Those are the three months that you don't want to be in England. Guys, um, in my opinion, unless you really like the cold and grey weather. Um, but yeah, much prefer Marrakesh climate then. Was it nice? A nice climate, because I can't imagine it was boiling. So it was probably perfect.

Daisy:
It went up and down a little bit. So a lot of the days were 30 degrees coming up to 30 degrees. And particularly the last month was a good, solid few weeks of between 30 and 35 degrees.

Charlie:
Right. Oh, that's so quite hot. Yeah.

Daisy:
Yeah. But earlier on, we did have a couple of. This is the funny thing as well, right? So I went out there and maybe at the beginning it was 25 most days, sunshine, blue skies at the beginning. It was really nice weather. Not boiling at 25, but very nice between 20-25.

Charlie:
I think that's, that's that's 25 to 28 is the the creme de la creme the perfect especially blue skies. Yeah.

Daisy:
Blue skies, can't beat blue skies. But then after I don't know, a couple of weeks. We had a couple of times we had some bad weather and I would be texting home like, oh no, the weather's, the weather's bad today or we've got bad weather this week and it's because you've adapted to your new normal, right? You've adapted to the the temperatures in the 20s, the blue sky, the sunshine. So then the weather would turn bad. Oh, bad weather, (quote unquote yeah)

Daisy:
It's 19 degrees and I can see some clouds in the sky. So bad weather. And then I would realise the situation back home. I would realise it's still early February and the sun is setting. I don't know, half four and it's very cold and miserable. And my mum's going. Yeah, right. Bad weather.

Charlie:
Yeah. Very hard to empathise with people abroad who are complaining about weather, especially during that period. Yeah.

Charlie:
We have come to the end of part two now. So again, feel free to pause the episode, to take a break from your listening practice and come back to the last part when you're ready. All right, so moving on to part three. Now enjoy.

Charlie:
Um, is there any advice that you would like to give to someone who's planning to visit Morocco for the first time.

Daisy:
And Marrakech in particular?

Charlie:
Yes, yes. Let's go with Marrakech, considering that's where you spent most of your time.

Daisy:
Yeah, I would say the main thing is to to do your research, to be ready for it to go, knowing what you're going into and to go with an open mind. So as you're walking around the old town, the Medina, the markets, be prepared to be, you could say, hassled a little bit and be prepared to be very confident in the way that you walk and very firm, because the main problems that come are from when people look vulnerable. So if you look lost, if you look confused, everyone will come and say, oh, come this way, come that way, do this, do that, and you're immediately a target to be tricked. So if you look confident, if you come across confident, if you know a few words in Moroccan Arabic, a few words in French to say no, thank you. Have a good day. That's lovely. But no thank you. Have a good day. Thanks. I know where I'm going. I know that this is the way. If you. As long as you come across sure of yourself and what you're doing, you won't have any problems. So one of the biggest tricks. They are business minded, but they're also you can get tricksters in Marrakesh. They like to try to trick you. Some of them I think particularly maybe the younger ones, teenagers can do this. And the worst, most dangerous trick is, um, usually down a quieter road. If you're off the beaten track a little bit and you're walking, if people come up to you maybe on a motorbike and they say this road is closed. You can't go this way. It's a lie. So they're telling you the road ahead is closed because they want to send you in a different direction and then, I don't know, beat you up or take your money or do whatever they want, take you to a shop and make you buy their their finest rugs and leather. I don't know, once they once you say, oh, really? The road is closed, I need to come with you. Okay, then they've got you. And they can. They can control you.

Charlie:
Force feed you tagine

Daisy:
Force feed you to tagine You never know. Yeah. So if anyone stops you and said the road is closed, just say no. It's not. This is my way. And keep going. And then they'll be like: "Oh..."

Charlie:
And there's a big hole in the street and you fall down.

Daisy:
You see the diggers? Yeah. Yeah. No.

Charlie:
Ok yeah that's really good advice.

Daisy:
Maybe keep your eyes open and and be more aware. But yeah, in general, it's a trick.

Charlie:
Yes. Okay. That's really, really useful. So to summarise, know a few basic phrases in French and Moroccan Arabic about how you can deliver the fact that you are confident you know where you're going and say, no thank you, I'm okay and have your head held high. Be assertive and don't (and smile) And smile? And smile?

Daisy:
Like be assertive and confident but friendly. I think if you're friendly, nice will be friendly. Also, don't pay the price. Don't pay the price that people ask for in the markets in general.

Charlie:
Yeah. Or or even in a newsagent's when you're buying some bread.

Daisy:
Recommended in the shops, in the newsagents, you should really pay the actual price? Really? Really. Um, but in the markets, you should go in at a third of the price.

Charlie:
A third of the price? A third of the price. Okay, that's very good. Um, with the money thing, I find it difficult even using cash now because I just use my phone. So it must have been very alien for you. If you're in a similar situation to me to be dealing with denominations of a foreign currency. I feel particularly stupid when I'm travelling now because of that habit.

Daisy:
And the currency, where the exchange is so wild that you really have to be counting in your head and trying to work out what is this worth? I have no idea what this is worth. So in the first few days I can imagine as a tourist who's only there for a few days in the souks, it's very difficult to bargain because you're thinking, how much is this item worth? And how much is this piece of cash worth? I have no idea if that's a good price or a bad price. I have no idea what I'm doing with these notes and coins, so it can make it more difficult.

Charlie:
Yeah, and you shout out in Arabic. No, the road's not closed. Kind of confused. Yeah. Um. Cool. Well, thank you very much, Daisy, for giving us your $0.02 on Moroccan culture, or particularly how life was for you in Marrakesh. Um, would you do it again?

Daisy:
Yes. Um.

Charlie:
But take some peanut butter.

Daisy:
But take some peanut butter. Yeah. No, I would, um, given, like, given the choice all over again to do this three months or to not, I wouldn't hesitate. I would definitely repeat the same three months. And, um, I would tell myself not to be so concerned or so worried in the days leading up to it. But to do it again now. Like to go straight back out and do the same thing for three months I think is not for me. I think I am quite a home person at the moment as well, so I would like to spend some time at home and um... (yeah) maybe do it for shorter periods in the future once I've had some time at home, or maybe another experience in a different part of the world. I think three months was a good amount of time to explore.

Charlie:
Yeah, you've ticked it off the bucket list. Okay. Well, um, I mean, you need to send me your, uh, postal, um, address so I can send you some more tagine to really, um, remember your experience there. If you're not going to go back as a belated birthday present, I suppose, but, um. Yeah. Yeah, well, I will let you enjoy your Colin the cake um...the caterpillar and. Yeah, thank you very much, Daisy.

Daisy:
Thank you. It's been lovely. Good to catch up.

Charlie:
Good to catch up, too. All right. Well done guys. See you again soon on the British English Podcast. Bye. Bye, Daisy. Bye.

Charlie:
There we go. The end of part three. Meaning the end of the episode. Well done for getting through the entirety of it. Make sure you use all of the resources available to you in your membership. Thanks once again for supporting the show and I look forward to seeing you next time on the British English Podcast.